Oundle School have been successfully working with local engineering companies and the ministry of defence for a number of years, giving young engineers an opportunity for a hands on approach to problem solving.
By fulfilling the criteria set by Creativity in Science and Technology (CREST),who are linked with ‘The British Science Association,’ pupils are awarded the Gold CREST certificate, which is recognised by universities and engineering firms.
Projects are real time problems, with time scales and cost implications to address.
The tasks involved are defined by the sponsor and managed by a team of Sixth Form pupils, who have seventy hours to complete the project.
This year pupils were fortunate to have two engineering projects, one with an engineering firm Teconnex and the other with Royal Airforce, Wittering.
Pupils involved with the first project, titled Failure Mode Analysis on Turbocharger Clamp were Chang Yun (17), Philip Gerstenberg (17), Ashley Sim (17), Oscar Chung (18) and Tom Barringer (17). They were mentored by Design and Technology teacher, Didier Vincent.
Teconnex is a highly respected producer of a number of different types of clamps. Based in North Yorkshire near Bradford, they supply to firms worldwide.
The team were asked to look at a clamp which is currently used on a particular turbocharger. A slight crack appeared on the clamp, which would cause failure and potentially damage the turbocharger. The team overcame the distance problem by organizing a video conference with director of engineering Ian Brown.